Even though their blog announcement states “enter your great idea today”, the fact is unless you’re a fairly well established startup, don’t bother. Seriously, read my two post above. They’re so full of bitterness…it reminded me how much fun writing this blog can be.
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All my posts on the topic Last years winner announcement on the AWS blog - This one kills me. They end the post: ‘PS - I am sure that the first comment will be “When are you doing this again?”‘ And here we are a year later and the only comment is me bitching about what a joke the contest was.
In a shocker Oolyaloylaoyal won the AWS Start-Up Challenge. Despite being underdogs throughout the competition the Aoloyla team pulled it out in the end. It really shows all you need is a dream and 10 million in venture funding and you too could have a shot at winning this challenge. I think they’ll serve as an inspiration to entrepreneurs everywhere.
So if you’re working your ass off long hours and questioning whether you’re just wasting your time, watch this video of Yolaoyloa destroying a server…you know the type of hardware that would really help you as you foot the bill, out of pocket, for a shared hosting account, wishing you had that type of hardware.
I got an email tonight announcing the videos were online for the seven finalist. I wanted to encourage everyone to vote for UserTesting.com. I have no connection to these guys, other then my belief they’re really the only finalist the both deserves and needs to win. Of course they’re dead last right now. They’re just two guys sharing an office trying to make something happen. Although for all I know they have a back room with 50 programmers playing ping pong.
A couple other notes after watching all the videos…
1) The MileMeter video pretty much confirmed my belief they’re only using the Amazon payment gateway - the least unique of their services. They guy tried to make it seem like they had plans for the other services, but his reasoning was a stretch at best.
2) I was kicking myself for not making the “WeoGeo guys need to get in touch with the UserTesting guys, since they’re website, although slick, is a usability nightmare”, so I’m making it now.
If you don’t think I’ll keep posting about the challenge with the hope of ranking well of the search engines and casting a black could over the whole affair, they you’ve clearly underestimated how long I can hold a petty grudge for. I’m the Bill Belichick of web developers. I never forget a slight.
Amazon announced the finalists for their startup challenge yesterday and the list is surprising in my view. Yes, I’m bitter my entry wasn’t picked, but even so the selections for the five…no wait seven finalists are extremely questionable. Let’s break them down.
a platform which provides viewers with high quality interactive video with non-intrusive advertising. Their ad system uses computer vision and machine learning to deliver a targeted advertising experience.
It’s alreadybeenwelldocumented that Loyoalaosao is extremely well funded. Oyalaloala is in beta and was built using AWS, so it makes sense for Amazon to be involved, since this type of application could really showcase their services. It’s a good thing Amazon ran this startup challenge otherwise they never would have found out about these guys. I mean it’s not like they’re speaking at lunches evangelizing the AWS platform. Good luck to Ooooyalaoaloa. I’m sure the $100k they’d get for winning will cover the costs of managing the $10 million (or more) they’ve already received.
an engine for measuring the networks in the brain. Researchers are using Brainscape to discover new brain networks and measure the effects of new drugs in clinical trials. Soon, doctors will be using Brainscape to diagnose disease and aid in treatment.
At least it’s not another social video network. Did I mention Ooyala is founded by former Google employees and therefor has no trouble getting press and people are practically throwing money at them? Anyway, back to Brainscape. I can’t find any news about them receiving funding, but since it’s the product of a research group and associated with a university, I assume they’ve gotten some pretty decent education/government grants at some point. They could probably use the money, especially considering they can’t even rank first on Google for their own name.
Justin.tv
Don’t even get me started on this one. I’m not even going to quote a description as they’ve already received endless coverage. I haven’t been able to find out much about their funding other then they receive an undisclosed amount from Alsop Louie Partners. Plus their already backed by Y Combinator. Way to get in early Amazon.
WeoGeo creates a one-stop marketplace for mapping using EC2 and S3 services. It supplies surveyors, engineers, cartographers, and scientists with the ability to conveniently store, search, exchange high-resolution CAD and GIS mapping products.
Uhh…WTF? Is there really a huge need for this? Are cartographers sitting at their computer wasting hours because there is no centralized site to buy and sell maps? This is probably a good time to mention that the official Amazon rules call for “five (5) finalists (the “Finalists”)”. Yet somehow the list has seven. Was WeoGeo such a winner they couldn’t bear to not include it? Anyway, they have one of those super fancy sites that obviously took a ton of time and is the perfect example of how you can go completely overboard with a particular technology and kill usability in the process.
Commerce360
Amazon jumps on the web advirtising bandwagon with Commerce360:
Commerce360 uses advanced mathematics and statistical analysis as part of their ClickEquations product to optimize campaigns across the entire search chain and to deliver improved campaign efficiency and performance.
I’m completely bored by these guys and they’re niche in general. Although that doesn’t mean they aren’t a worthy finalist. Like the other guys they have “major funding” and a long and prestigous client list. Honestly how many of the Amazon services can they really use? Maybe the payment gateway and EC2 for their advanced calculations. I can’t see them using Mechanical Terk or S3. Did I mention my pitch utilized all four?
UserTesting.com
Now we’re getting into a couple decent entries. UserTesting is:
quick and cheap access to a network of pre-screened testers who are articulate and observant and who meet specified demographics. Website owners can request that one or more testers attempt to complete a task on their website.
Not a bad idea. Obviously this type of thing can cost a fortune if you hire a specialist and assemble focus groups. I think they’re going to have a challenge keeping the tester quality high. Plus their is a disjoint between the comments provided by the testers and how to actually improve the site. For example if a bunch of testers write “I was confused by the checkout procedure.” That’s great to know, but what do you do to fix it? I guess this could be a value added service.
I like these guys and hope they win. I could see how they can logically implement many of the AWSes and I get the impression the money could really help them, unlike some of the other, more established entries.
offer “auto insurance by the mile,” so people who drive less pay less for insurance.
It’s an interesting concept and I could see a market for it. From my five seconds of research they don’t appear funded as of yet and they’re website is just a place holder, so they could certainly use the funding. My big compliant is I just don’t see which of the services they’ll use. Yea, they could use the payment gateway, but EC2, S3 or Mechanical Terk?
Good Luck…
… to UserTesting and MileMeter. They have a tough challenge against some established startups. I guess that is my big complaint. I was expecting more sites like the last two, since I thought the purposes of a contest like this was to discover some new ideas/talent. If Justin.tv or oowlaoaladyaa wins it’ll feel like this whole thing was a big PR stunt to get attention for AWS since they could have just funded these guys anyway.
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